An easier subset of "Bogota, the Magdalena Valley & Santa Marta," reached by a direct flight from Miami, and with a couple more days for a more leisurely approach.

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated mountain range topped by permanent snowfields that are within sight of the sea; it is also one of the most endemic-rich areas in the world, many of them with "Santa Marta" in the name.

The centerpiece of this trip is a comfortable lodge on the ProAves reserve at 6000 feet on an outlying ridge of the mountains. We're sure to see a large share of those endemics, as well as many wonderful birds that are not endemic, from Band-tailed and Sickle-winged guans to White-tipped Quetzal. In addition to birding in wet forest, we'll spend an equal amount of time in coastal marshes, mangroves, deciduous forest, and cactus desert--a large number of tropical bird species with the conveniences of only a week away from work and a direct flight from Miami.